William Shakespeare's Coriolanus
is a tragedy based on the life of a Roman military
leader, Caius Martius Coriolanus (also referred to
in history books as Gaius Marcius and Gnaeus
Martius). Scholars often group the work as one of
Shakespeare’s “Roman plays,” along with Antony
and Cleopatra and Julius Caesar. A
tragedy is a literary work in which the main
character suffers a downfall or dies, usually
because of a flaw in his or her character.Composition

Shakespeare may have begun to write
Coriolanus as early as 1605. He completed it
no later than 1610. The majority of scholars believe
he began and completed the play between 1607 and
1609. The 1605 date has been established as the
earliest possible date for beginning the writing
because an extended metaphor in the first scene of
Act 1 (lines 54-119) appears to have been based on a
chapter in a 1605 essay collection, Remaines of
a Greater Worke, Concerning Britaine, by
William Camden (1551-1623). This chapter, entitled
"Wise Speeches," centers on an observation in which
Pope Adrian IV (circa 1100-1159) likens a
successfully functioning government to a
successfully functioning human body. Shakespeare's
passage makes a similar comparison. The 1610 date
has been established as the latest possible date
because references to Shakespeare's play appear in
1610 works by other writers in Shakespeare's time.

Publication

Coriolanus was first
published in 1623 in a collection with thirty-five
other Shakespeare plays. This collection was
entitled Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies,
Histories & Tragedies. To what extent the
original manuscripts of the plays had been edited is
uncertain. John Heminges (1566-1630) and Henry
Condell (1576-1627), actors in Shakespeare's plays,
compiled and edited the volume. The printer and
publisher was William Jaggard (circa 1568-1623),
assisted by his son Isaac. This edition became known
as the First Folio. A folio was a book consisting of
pages nineteen inches high and twelve inches wide.
Because of the presumed authenticity of this
collection, later publishers used it to print copies
of the plays. Other folios were printed in 1632,
1663 and 1685. In 1664, a second printing of the
1663 folio included the first publication of
Shakespeare play Pericles, Prince of Tyre.

Sources

Shakespeare based the plot of Coriolanus
on “The Life of Caius Martius Coriolanus,” by the
Greek-born biographer Plutarch (46 AD?-120?), who
became a Roman citizen. This biography is part of a
larger Plutarch work, Parallel Lives, focusing
on famous Greek and Roman government and military
leaders. Shakespeare is said to have used an English
translation of Parallel Lives by Sir Thomas
North (1535-1601). North’s translation, based in part
on a French translation, was published in 1579 under
the title The Lives of the Noble Grecians and
Romanes [Romans]. Shakespeare may also
have consulted Ab Urbe Condita (Latin for From
the Founding of the City, referring to the
founding of Rome), by the Roman historian Titus
Livius, called Livy (circa 60-17 BC). Finally,
Shakespeare may have based the uprising of the Roman
commoners, in part, on the Midland Revolt of 1607 in
England. In this upheaval, agricultural laborers in
England rebelled against a government policy allowing
businessmen to seize and privatize public land on
which the laborers grew their crops. This policy
resulted in unemployment and food shortages among the
laborers. They rebelled against the new landowners,
just as the ordinary Roman citizens in Coriolanus
rebel against the title character, whom they view as a
usurper of their rights.

First
Performance

No records exist to document a
performance of Coriolanus in Shakespeare's time. The
first known performance was in 1681 at the Drury Lane
theatre in Covent Garden, London. The production was
adapted by Irish-born poet Nahum Tate (1652-1715).

Settings.The
action takes place in ancient Italy in the 490's BC.
Scenes are set in central Italy, in Rome, and in the
following coastal locales thirty to forty miles south
of Rome: Corioli, Antium, and fields of battle.

Characters

Protagonist:
CoriolanusAntagonists:
(1) Common People of Rome, (2) the VolsciansFoil
of Volumnia: Virgilia.Coriolanus
(Caius Marcius): Roman warrior of quick temper
and great pride, who thinks like a lion when he should
think like a fox. His birth name is Caius Marcius, but
he receives the honorary name of Coriolanus after he
conquers the enemy city of Corioli. Like protagonists
in ancient Greek tragedies, Coriolanus's arrogance and
inflexibility precipitate his downfall. Toward the end
of the play, he does bend his iron will away from
vengeance against Rome—but it is too late. The die has
been cast. Volumnia:
Ambitious, meddlesome mother of Coriolanus who
exercises considerable control over his character
formation. She is not unlike the strong-willed mothers
in another Shakespeare play, King John. In
some historical accounts, Volumnia is identified as
Veturia, and Coriolanus's wife as Volumnia. Virgilia:
Gentle and soft-spoken wife of Coriolanus. In her
sweetness and delicacy, she is reminiscent of
Desdemona in Othello.Menenius
Agrippa (full historical name: Agrippa Menius
Lanatus): Sensible patrician politician and friend of
Coriolanus.Cominius:
General in the Roman army in the war against the
Volscians.Titus Lartius: General in the Roman army in the
war against the Volscians. Sicinius
Velutus, Junius Brutus: Tribunes of the people.
A tribune was an elected official charged with
safeguarding the rights of commoners, called
plebeians.Tullus
Aufidius: General of the Volscians, or Volsci,
who occupied a valley south of Rome.Lieutenant
of AufidiusConspirators
Supporting Aufidius Against Coriolanus: First
conspirator, second conspirator, third
conspirator. Young
Marcius: Son of Coriolanus.Valeria:
Friend of Virgilia.Gentlewoman
Attending
VirgiliaAdrian:Volscian
who meets a Roman, Nicanor, on the road between Rome
and Antium. Nicanor informs him that the Roman
citizens have banished Coriolanus.Nicanor:
Roman citizen. See Adrian.Minor
Characters:Citizen of Antium, two
Volscian guards, Roman herald, Roman and Volscian
senators, patricians, aediles (officials overseeing
public buildings and roads, markets, sanitation
facilities, and certain public events), lictors
(assistants of magistrates), soldiers, citizens,
messengers, servants of Aufidius, other attendants.

Plot
Summary
By Michael J. Cummings

When famine sweeps Rome in the first
decade of the fifth century BC (between 499 and 490),
the common citizens (plebeians) believe the rulers and
their aristocratic friends (patricians) are to blame,
claiming they are hoarding food supplies. One of the
citizens singles out the patrician warrior Caius
Martius, later to be known as Coriolanus, as their
chief enemy. Martius despises the whining rabble as
churls and a drain on the public trough. He threatens
to wield his sword against them. However, the Senate
throws the people a political crumb: they may select
five officers, to be known as tribunes to represent
them and defend their rights. The concession angers
Martius. Two of the tribunes—Sicinius Velutus and
Junius Brutus—oppose Martius from the outset, thinking
him unbearably arrogant and condescending in his
attitude toward the commoners. The two men reveal
their feelings in the first scene of the first act.

SICINIUS: Was ever man so
proud as is this
Marcius?
BRUTUS: He has no
equal. SICINIUS: When we were chosen
tribunes for the people,— BRUTUS: Mark’d you [did you
notice] his lip and eyes? SICINIUS: Nay, but his
taunts. BRUTUS: Being mov’d, he will
not spare to gird [jeer] the
gods.
SICINIUS: Bemock the modest
moon. (235-241)

However, the attention of Marcius
quickly shifts to new villains when he learns an
Italian tribe known as the Volscians plans to attack
Rome. It is wonderful news to him. As a soldier, he
likes nothing better than a good war to test his
talents. It is good news, too, to his mother,
Volumnia. She reared her son to be a stalwart soldier
who brings glory to Rome, himself, and his family—in
particular, to Volumnia herself. Now that an
opportunity for glory has presented itself, she wants
her son to take advantage of it. Marcius’s wife,
Virgilia, is not at all like her husband or his
mother; she is a gentle creature who hates bloodshed.
After Marcius marches off to attack the Volscian city
of Corioli (south of Rome, within one to three days of
foot travel), Virgilia cannot go about business as
usual like other Roman women. Instead, she can only
sit at home and fret for her husband’s safety.

At Corioli, the Volscians charge out of the city
gates, prompting Marcius to shout that

They fear us not, but issue forth
their city.Now
put your shields before your hearts, and fightWith
hearts more proof than shields. Advance, brave
Titus:They
do disdain us much beyond our thoughts,Which
makes me sweat with wrath. Come on, my fellows:He
that retires, I’ll take him for a Volsce,And
he shall feel mine edge. (1.4.32-38)

But the Volscians drive the Romans
back to trenches, causing Marcius to rebuke his men:

All the contagion of the south light
on you,You
shames of Rome! you herd of—Boils and plaguesPlaster
you o’er, that you may be abhorr’dFurther
than seen, and one infect anotherAgainst
the wind a mile! You souls of geese,That
bear the shapes of men, how have you runFrom
slaves that apes would beat! (1.4.40-46)

After the fighting resumes, the
Volscians withdraw to their walled city. Marcius
follows them through the gates, but his compatriots
remain behind, thinking it foolhardy to enter the
enemy’s den. But Marcius holds his own against the
overwhelming odds. When he emerges from the gates
bloodied but still standing, with the enemy pursuing
him, his soldiers find courage and take the city.
Marcius, bleeding, then rides off to lead an attack
against Volscians outside the city, and he again wins
the day. The Volscians are defeated. For his stunning
feats on the battlefield, his fellow soldiers give him
the title “Coriolanus,” meaning conqueror of Corioli.

When he returns to Rome in triumph, his mother greets
him, proud that he has suffered wounds proving his
mettle. His wife is also there, weeping for joy that
he has survived the battle. To his mother’s delight,
the Senate nominates him to be a consul (in ancient
Rome, one of two chief magistrates who exercised
supreme executive power). However, if he is to
win the office, he must follow custom and go to the
Forum (a square that was the center of business and
politics) to ask the common people directly for
their backing. With the greatest reluctance, the proud
warrior agrees to humble himself before the rabble he
despises to beg for votes. Out of gratitude for his
service to Rome, the people approve him as
consul-elect.

Meanwhile, the two tribunes who despise the hero,
Sicinius and Junius Brutus, persuade the people that
they have made a bad choice. The august Coriolanus,
the tribunes say, does not have the people’s interests
at heart; he will only rob them of their liberties.
The people then decide to recant; Coriolanus shall not
be consul after all. Enraged, Coriolanus condemns the
fickle mob, maintaining they seek to undermine
authority and destroy the state. In return, the
tribunes condemn Coriolanus as an enemy of the state.
When Coriolanus draws a sword, his friends escort him
away to prevent further upheaval. Menenius Agrippa, an
old friend of Coriolanus, then intervenes on the great
soldier’s behalf, proposing a peace-making meeting at
the Forum. (The Forum was a marketplace that was also
the political, economic, and religious center of
Rome.) The tribunes agree to attend the meeting. The
contentious Coriolanus, however, refuses to
participate. His mother, Volumnia, then speaks in
favor of the meeting, advising Coriolanus that
everyone must compromise from time to time. What
motivates her is not conciliation; it is ambition. She
wants her son to rise to the consulship. The friends
of Coriolanus also importune him to attend the
meeting, for the sake of Rome. Reluctantly, he agrees
to the meeting. All is well. But not for long.

The tribunes renew their denigration of Coriolanus as
an enemy of the commoners and whip them into a frenzy
against him. When Coriolanus reacts angrily, he is
banished from Rome. Outside the city gates, he bids
farewell to his wife, mother, and friends, then bends
his mind toward one goal: revenge not only against the
tribunes, but also all of Rome.

After Coriolanus finds his way to the camp of the
defeated Volscians, who are planning a new attack on
Rome, the Volscian leader, Aufidius, sympathizes with
Coriolanus. Coriolanus, after all, is a soldier like
Aufidius; and brave soldiers should not be treated
with ingratitude and ridicule. But when the Volscian
regulars receive Coriolanus as a great warrior—a man
deserving of trust, admiration, and love—Aufidius has
second thoughts about his guest. Aufidius and
Coriolanus then march on Rome as co-commanders. Fear
grips all of Rome, and the citizens regret their harsh
judgment of Coriolanus. When his old Roman friends go
to his camp to plead for mercy, he refuses to listen
to their entreaties. Then his mother, wife, and little
boy go out to his camp to soften his heart. His
domineering mother even kneels before him as she
presents her case.

Torn between his love for his family and his sworn
duty to lead the Volscian army in the overthrow of
Rome, Coriolanus decides to make peace with the city.
He and the Volscians withdraw to Corioli. The Roman
citizens rejoice, and they hail Volumnia as the savior
of the city. At Corioli, Aufidius cannot brook the
popularity that Coriolanus enjoys with his troops, so
he decides to assassinate him with the help of three
henchmen (called conspirators in the play). First,
Aufidius brands Coriolanus a traitor who has robbed
the Volscians of a victory over Rome as well as the
plunder they would reap. Then he and the henchmen
surround and kill Coriolanus. But in his death,
Coriolanus wins another victory: Aufidius, realizing
that he has taken the life a noble and worthy friend
and adversary, vows to honor the memory of Coriolanus.
He says, “My rage is gone; and I am struck with
sorrow” (5.5.185). Coriolanus is to be given a
dignified burial, and he is to be remembered as a man
of greatness whose legend will live on in Rome.

Conflict

Marcius is in conflict with the
common people of Rome, who dislike him for his
patrician haughtiness and blame him for the shortage
of grain at a price they can afford. Shakespeare
establishes this conflict in the following passage in
the opening scene of the play:

FIRST CITIZEN: First, you know
Caius Marcius is chief enemy to the people.
ALL: We know’t, we
know’t. FIRST CITIZEN: Let us kill
him, and we’ll have corn at our own price. Is’t a
verdict? ALL: No more talking on’t; let
it be done. Away, away!
SECOND CITIZEN: One word, good
citizens. FIRST CITIZEN: We are
accounted poor citizens, the patricians good. What
authority surfeits on would relieve us. If they
would yield us but the superfluity, while it were
wholesome, we might guess they relieved us humanely;
but they think we are too dear: the leanness that
afflicts us, the object of our misery, is as an
inventory to particularise their abundance; our
sufferance is a gain to them. Let us revenge this
with our pikes, ere we become rakes: for the gods
know I speak this in hunger for bread, not in thirst
for revenge. SECOND CITIZEN: Would you
proceed especially against Caius Marcius?
FIRST CITIZEN: Against him
first: he’s a very dog to the commonalty. (1.1.7-14)

Marcius is also in conflict with a
battlefield enemy, the Volscians. However, he welcomes
going to war against them; doing so will enable him to
win glory that will feed his already excessive pride.
Moreover, he actually admires the Volscian leader, as
the following passage indicates.

MARCIUS: They have a leader,
Tullus Aufidius, that will put you
to ’t. I sin in envying his nobility,
And were I anything but what I am,
I would wish me only he.
COMINIUS: You have fought
together. MARCIUS: Were half to half the
world by the ears, and he
Upon my party, I’d revolt, to make
Only my wars with him: he is a lion
That I am proud to hunt.
(1.1.205-212)

It
can be argued that Marcius is also in conflict with
himself. On the one hand, he cannot overcome his pride;
on the other he cannot tame his quick and insulting
tongue.Tone

The arrogance, spite, and bitterness
of Coriolanus dominate the serious tone of the play.
He makes known his disdain for the common people in
his first appearance in the play.

What
would
you
have, you curs, That like nor peace nor war? the one
affrights you, The other makes you proud. He that
trusts to you, Where he should find you lions,
finds you hares; Where foxes, geese: you are no
surer, no, Than is the coal of fire upon the
ice, Or hailstone in the sun.
(1.1.135-141)

Foreshadowing

The
delicate, soft-spoken wife of Coriolanus brings out a
soft, loving side of Coriolanus, foreshadowing his
decision not to attack Rome at the head of the Volscian
army. She demonstrates that the fierce warrior has, deep
inside him, what it takes to be a caring man capable of
tempering his military and political machismo. When he
returns from war against the Volscians, he says,

My gracious silence [Virgilia],
hail! Wouldst thou
have laugh’d had I come coffin’d home, That weep’st
to see me triumph? Ah! my dear, Such eyes
the widows in Corioli wear, And mothers
that lack sons. (2.1.81-85)

Climax

The
climax of a play or a narrative work, such as a short
story or a novel, can be defined as (1) the turning
point at which the conflict begins to resolve itself for
better or worse, or as (2) the final and most exciting
event in a series of events. The climax of Coriolanus
occurs, according to the first definition, when Rome
banishes Coriolanus, leading to his defection to the
Volscians and his murder at their hands. According to
the second definition, the climax is Coriolanus's
decision to yield to the wishes of his mother not to
attack Rome. I

Denouement

The
denouement, or conclusion, of the play is the murder of
Coriolanus by the jealous Aufidius and his henchmen,
followed by his regret for having killed Coriolanus and
the honorable burial he gives him.

Political
Interpretation of the Play

Down
through the years, performances of Coriolanus have
sometimes served the political views of directors. Some
directors have depicted Coriolanus as a right-wing hero
who protects the patricians and the established order
against the rowdy commoners. Other directors have
depicted him as a right-wing villain who robs the
left-wing commoners of the their rights.

The Historical Corionlanus

The
historical Coriolanus was a patrician (member of the
upper class) who fought with great valor in a battle
against the Volscians in 493 BC at the city of Corioli.
Said to be a haughty man, he looked down on the
plebeians (common people of Rome). In a move that
aroused their wrath, he withheld grain from them during
a famine in order to force the elimination of the office
of tribunate, which had been established to preserve the
rights of the plebeians. The tribunate's magistrates,
called tribunes, responded by exiling Coriolanus. After
receiving sanctuary among the Volscians, Coriolanus led
them in a march against Rome. He called off the attack,
however, after his mother and wife begged him to spare
the city. He later died among the Volscians. ..

Themes

Pride

Excessive pride brings ruin. Marcius (Coriolanus) is
so proud and so quick to criticize others,
especially the plebeians, that Rome banishes him.
After he leaves the city, he defects to the enemy
Volscians and leads them in a march on Rome to gain
revenge against the city. When his mother, wife, and
son plead with him to spare the city, he relents and
withdraws. But his withdrawal angers the Volscian
leader, Aufidius, whose army had suffered an earlier
defeat at the hands of Coriolanus. A proud man in
his own right, Aufidius complains that Coriolanus's
withdrawal has deprived him and his countrymen of
plundering Rome. For this reason—and because he
apparently envies Coriolanus—Aufidius and several
henchmen kill the Roman.

Class Division

Bitter enmity divides the ordinary citizens of
Rome—the carpenters, the shoemakers, the bakers, the
bricklayers—from the upper classes. When famine
strikes the city, the commoners accuse the
aristocrats, or patricians, of hoarding food for
themselves and mistreating them in other ways. As
one of the commoners says,

They [the
patricians] ne’er cared for us yet: suffer us to
famish, and their storehouses crammed with grain;
make edicts for usury, [charging interest at an
excessive rate] to support usurers; repeal daily
any wholesome act established against the rich,
and provide more piercing statutes [burdensome
laws] daily to chain up and restrain the poor. If
the wars eat us not up, they will; and there’s all
the love they bear us. (1.1.46)

Marcius
mocks the commoners as whining troublemakers. After
he leads an army against Rome's perennial rivals,
the Volscians—distinguishing himself in battle and
suffering wounds—he returns home as a hero and
decides to run for consul. To be elected, he must
win the hearts of the commoners. At first, he gains
their approval. But after the two tribunes who
defend the rights of the commoners, Sicinius Velutus
and Junius Brutus, persuade the commoners that
Marcius is their enemy, they recant their approval,
viewing Marcius as a symbol of the well-fed
patricians. He exchanges angry words with the
citizens, but to no avail. Ultimately, Rome banishes
Marcius.

Mighty Mom

Coriolanus may be the physically strongest character
in the play, but Volumnia is probably the mentally
strongest. She exerts powerful, seemingly
irresistible, influence over her son. From an early
age, he does her bidding. Her influence continues in
his adulthood. After the city banishes him and he
joins Aufidius in a march on Rome, she pleads with
him to spare Rome, going down on her knees. Even
though he vowed vengeance against Rome at all costs,
he yields to her wishes. She proves she can do what
no man can do, tame the great warrior. His deference
to his mother results in his murder.

War as a Maker of Men

In ancient times, ambitious men often eagerly
welcomed the opportunity to go to war. By exhibiting
courage and mastery of the military art, a man could
earn fame, fortune, and honor. Among the legendary
and historical soldiers who indelibly stamped their
names in countless books and poems were Achilles and
Hector (opposing warriors in the Trojan War and
characters in Homer's great epic poem, the Iliad),
David (slayer of Goliath), and Darius I, emperor of
Persia. Coriolanus no doubt was keenly aware of the
benefits—and glory—of military service. At an early
age, Coriolanus schooled himself in the military
arts and molded his body into hard, battle-ready
muscle. All the while, his mother encouraged his
activities.

When yet he was but tender-bodied
and the only son of my womb, when youth with
comeliness plucked all gaze his way [when he was a
handsome youth and attracted all gazes to him], when
for a day of kings’ entreaties a mother should not
sell him an hour from her beholding, I, considering
how honour would become such a person, that it was
no better than picture-like to hang by the wall, if
renown made it not stir [that he was no better than
a picture on the way if he did not earn renown], was
pleased to let him seek danger where he was like to
find fame. To a cruel war I sent him; from whence he
returned, his brows bound with oak [he returned,
wearing a wreath of oak leaves signifying his great
valor in battle], I tell thee, daughter, I sprang
not more in joy at first hearing he was a man-child
than now in first seeing he had proved himself a
man. (1.3.4)

After Marcius wins the respect he sought, he and his
mother instill their militaristic ideals in young
Marcius, as the following dialogue about the boy
indicates:

VOLUMNIA: He had rather see the
swords, and hear a drum, than look upon his
school-master.
VALERIA: On my word, the father’s
son; I’ll swear ’tis a very pretty boy. On my troth,
I looked upon him on Wednesday half an hour
together: he has such a confirmed countenance. I saw
him run after a gilded butterfly; and when he caught
it, he let it go again; and after it again; and over
and over he comes, and up again; catched it again:
or whether his fall enraged him, or how ’twas, he
did so set his teeth and tear it; O! I warrant, how
he mammocked it [ripped it apart]! (1.3.34)

Politics

After returning home from war as a hero, Marcius
decides to run for the highest political office in
Rome: consul. (Each year, the Roman republic elected
two consuls to rule for twelve months. One consul
held authority in one month, and the other consul
held it in the next month.) One of his objectives is
to uphold the authority of the patricians while
checking, or even suppressing, the rights of the
commoners. But Marcius lacks the tact required of a
politician. He is too outspoken and, at times, even
insulting. Moreover, he appears to lack the humility
to solicit the votes of the commoners. As the
tribune Brutus says:

I heard him swear,
Were he to stand for consul,
never would he
Appear i’ the market-place, nor
on him put
The napless vesture [threadbare
apparel; worn-out toga] of humility;
Nor, showing, as the manner is,
his
wounds
To the people, beg their stinking
breaths. (2.1.146-151)

But Marcius does wear the "napless vesture" and does
succeed in winning their approval, although they are
confused by his language.

SECOND CITIZEN: Amen, sir.
To my poor unworthy notice,
He mock’d us when he begg’d our
voices [votes].
THIRD CITIZEN:
Certainly,
He flouted us
downright.
FIRST CITIZEN: No, ’tis his
kind of speech; he did not mock us.
(2.3.115-119)

Despite the reservations of some commoners, he wins
their overall support, thanks to their high opinion
of him as a soldier. However, the support is
short-lived, for the officious tribunes later
persuade them that Marcius will not champion their
rights. Consequently, they withdraw their approval.
Arguments ensue, but Marcius's quick temper and
sharp tongue do nothing to ease the tension. In the
end, the city banishes him. He is too much of a
proud, uncompromising patrician to to serve as a
politician for all the people.

Redemption for Marcius?

Coriolanus is a deadly warrior and an outstanding
military leader. But he lacks compassion, humility,
and sympathy in his dealings with others, especially
the commoners begging for their share of food.
However, to his credit, he does yield to the pleas
of his mother, wife, and son when they beg him to
spare Rome when he is leading a Volscian army
against the city. For this act of mercy, he appears
to redeem himself. But Aufidius and his henchmen,
deprived of looting Rome, kill him.

.Animal Imagery.Animal
imagery—a device
Shakespeare relied on in other plays, notably King
Lear—abounds in Coriolanus.
Not infrequently, such imagery reflects the
condescending attitude of Coriolanus toward plebeians,
foot soldiers, and other commoners. Addressing
disgruntled Roman citizens, he says:

He that
will give good words to thee will flatter Beneath
abhorring. What would you have, you curs, That
like nor peace nor war? the one affrights you, The
other makes you proud. He that trusts to you, Where he
should find you lions, finds you hares; Where
foxes, geese: you are no surer, no.
(1.1.134-139).

After the Volscians
repel a Roman attack, Coriolanus rallies his infantrymen
by shaming them, referring to them as a "herd" (1.4.41)
and as "souls of geese" (1.4.44). A short while later,
Coriolanus praises the performance of gentlemen soldiers
(aristocratic volunteers) but ridicules the performance
of common recruits by comparing them to mice. He says
that

but for our gentlemen, The
common file—a plague!
tribunes for them!—The
mouse ne’er shunn’d the cat as they did budge From
rascals worse than they. (1.6.56-59)

In Act 3,
Coriolanus labels Sicinius Velutus, a tribune
representing the common people, as a “Triton [sea god]
of the minnows” (3.1.117). Moments later, he
characterizes commoners as “crows” (3.1.172). Not to be
outdone, the Roman commoners and their representatives
also use animal imagery to refer to Coriolanus. For
example, the citizens call Coriolanus “a very dog to the
commonality” (1.1.15). The leader of the
Volscians, Aufidius, also uses animal imagery to refer
to Coriolanus. When the two men meet on the field of
battle between the Volscian and Roman camps, Aufidius
compares Coriolanus to a snake, telling him: “Not Afric
owns a serpent I abhor / More than thy fame and envy”
(1.8.6-7). Near the opening of Act 2, the tribune
Sicinius and the patrician politician Menenius compare
the common people to wolves and Coriolanus (Caius
Marcius) to a lamb and a bear:

SICINIUS:
Nature teaches beasts to know their friends. MENENIUS:
Pray
you,
who does the wolf love? SICINIUS:
The lamb. MENENIUS:
Ay,
to
devour him; as the hungry plebeians would the noble
Marcius.BRUTUS:
He’s a lamb indeed, that baes like a bear. MENENIUS:
He’s a bear indeed, that lives like a lamb.
(2.1.6-11)

When Coriolanus
defects to the Volscians, he takes care to avoid
inflammatory language when describing himself as a
former foe. However, after the Volscians betray him, he
defiantly refers to himself as an eagle and the
Volscians as mere doves in a cote (shelter):

Cut me
to pieces, Volsces; men and lads, Stain
all your edges on me. Boy! false hound! If you
have writ your annals true, ‘tis there, That,
like an eagle in a dove-cote,4
I Flutter’d
your Volscians in Corioli: Alone I
did it. Boy! (5. 5. 143-148)

.

Metaphors

Although
Coriolanus lacks the poetic musicality of The
Tempest, Romeo and Juliet, and other
Shakespeare plays, it does make extensive use of the
metaphor for descriptions, insults, and observations.
Following are examples.

VOLUMNIA:
He had, before this last expedition,
twenty-five wounds upon him. MENENIUS:
Now, it’s twenty-seven: every gash was an
enemy’s grave. (2.1.58-59)Comparison
of gash to grave

We have some
old crab-trees here at home that will not Be
grafted to your relish. (2.1.95-96)Comparison of the
opponents of Coriolanus gash to crab trees

Were he to
stand for consul, never would he Appear
i’ the market-place, nor on him put The napless5 vesture of
humility (2.1.147-149)Comparison of humility to
a garment

[I]f all our
wits were to issue out of one skull, they would fly
east, west, north, south. (2.3.7)Comparison of wits
(intellectual abilities) to a creature or thing
that flies

SICINIUS:
It is a mind That
shall remain a poison where it is, Not
poison any further. CORIOLANUS:
Shall remain! Hear
you this Triton of the minnows? mark you
(3.1.117)His
absolute ‘shall?’Comparison of a mind to
poison; comparison of Sicinius to Triton, the
son of Poseidon, god of the sea

[T]he rabble . . .
will in time break ope The
locks o’ the senate, and bring in the crowsTo
peck the eagles. (3.1.170-173)Comparison of commoners
to crows and senators to eagles

Anger’s my
meat; I sup upon myself, And so
shall starve with feeding.
(4.2.68-69) Comparison of anger to
meat

Let the
Volsces Plough
Rome, and harrow Italy. (5.3.38-39)Comparison of the
Volscian army to farmers

This Marcius
is grown from man to dragon: he has wings; he’s more
than a creeping thing. (5.4.7)Comparison of Coriolanus
(Marcius) to a dragon

They’ll give
him death by inches. (5.4.19)Comparison of the process
of dying to a measurable thing

He water’d his
new plants with dews of flattery, Seducing
so my friends. (5.5.30-31) Comparison of flattery to
the watering of plants

Other Figures of Speech

Following is a
sampling of other figures of speech in Coriolanus.
For definitions of figures of speech, see Literary Terms.

We call a nettle but a nettle, and The faults of fools but folly. (2.1.97-98)

This is the way to kindle,
not to quench
(3.1.242)

Prose
Passage.Ingratitude
is monstrous,
and for the multitude
to be ingrateful were to make
a monster of
the multitude;
of the which, we being members, should bring
ourselves to be monstrous
members. (2.3.5)

Anaphora

Prose Passage.When yet he was but
tender-bodied and the only son of my womb, when youth with
comeliness plucked all gaze his way, when for a day of
kings’ entreaties a mother should not sell him an hour
from her beholding, I, considering how honour would
become such a person, that it was no better than
picture-like to hang by the wall, if renown made it
not stir, was pleased to let him seek danger where he
was like to find fame. (1.3.3)

Verse
Passage.If I
should tell thee o’er this thy day’s work, Thou’lt
not believe thy deeds: but I’ll report it Where senators shall
mingle tears with smiles, Where great
patricians shall attend and shrug, I’ the
end, admire; where
ladies shall be frighted, And,
gladly quak’d, hear more; where
the dull Tribunes, That,
with the fusty plebeians, hate thine honours, Shall
say, against their hearts, ‘We
thank the gods our Rome hath such a soldier!’
(1.9.3-11)

Apostrophe

A
goodly city is this Antium. City,
’Tis I
that made thy widows: many an heirOf these
fair edifices ’fore my wars
Have I
heard groan and drop.Coriolanus
address
Antium.

Behold!
these are the tribunes of the people, The
tongues o’ the common mouth. (3.1.29-30)Tongues
stands for the tribunes; mouth stands for
the people

Simile

The
noble sister of Publicola, The moon
of Rome; chaste as the icicle (5.3.74-75)Comparison
of the chastity of Virgilia to the coldness of an
icicle (a compliment)

When he walks,
he moves like an engine (5.4.9)Comparison of Coriolanus
to an engine

[I am] as
certain as I know the sun is fire (5.4.28)Comparison of the
speaker's degree of certainty to his knowledge
that the sun is fire

At a few drops
of women’s rheum, which are As
cheap as lies, he sold the blood and labour Of our
great action: therefore shall he die.
(5.4.56-58) Comparison of the quality
of women's tears to the cheapness of lies

Like
an
eagle
in a dove-cote, I Flutter’d
your Volscians in Corioli (5.4.146-147)Coriolanus
compares
himself to an eagle among doves.

Study
Questions and Essay Topics

Do people today judge the worth of
an individual solely on his or her personal
virtues? Or are they more likely to judge a person
on his or her social standing, wealth, looks or
fame?

In the ancient Rome of Coriolanus
(490s BC), special officers called tribunes
protected the rights of the common people against
the aristocrats. What organizations or
institutions today perform the same
function?

It appears that Coriolanus was a
proud, arrogant person. In your opinion, why did
the quiet and likable Virgilia marry him?

Does Volumnia love her son more
than the glory that she can achieve through him?

Assume the role of a psychologist.
Then analyze Coriolanus and write a profile
explaining his strong points, his weaks points,
and the environmental and cultural influences that
helped shape him. Use passages from the play to
support your observations and opinions.

In his campaign for election as a
consul of Rome, Coriolanus speaks in the Forum.
What was the Forum? What activities took place
there?

Will young Martius, the son of
Coriolanus, grow up to be like his father?

What was life like for a typical
Roman soldier in ancient Rome?

Imagine that you are a news
reporter in ancient Rome. Write an obituary that
you believe accurately sums up the life and
character of Coriolanus.